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Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on January 4, 2007
Journal of Public Health 2007 29(1):17-26; doi:10.1093/pubmed/fdl083
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© The Author 2007, Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved.

Measuring young people’s attitudes to breastfeeding using the Theory of Planned Behaviour



Melanie Giles, Senior Lecturer1

Samantha Connor, Research Associate1

Carol McClenahan, Lecturer1

John Mallett, Lecturer1

Barbara Stewart-Knox, Senior Research Fellow2

Marion Wright, Lecturer3
1 Psychology Research Institute, School of Psychology, University of Ulster, Cromore Road, Coleraine County, Londonderry BT52 1SA, UK
2 Biomedical Sciences Research Institute and Northern Ireland Centre for Food & Health, University of Ulster, Cromore Road, Coleraine County, Londonderry BT52 1SA, UK
3 Institute of Nursing Research and School of Nursing, University of Ulster, Cromore Road, Coleraine County, Londonderry BT52 1SA, UK

Address correspondence to Samantha Connor, E-mail: sl.connor{at}ulster.ac.uk

Background The focus of this study was to design and pilot a questionnaire to measure young people’s attitudes to breastfeeding using the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). This is intended for subsequent use in a large-scale attitude survey, which in turn will inform the design of a breastfeeding intervention programme with adolescents.

Methods The first three phases of a research programme employing the theory are described: belief elicitation, questionnaire development and a pilot study. Firstly, an elicitation study to identify the modal salient beliefs underlying young peoples’ motivations to breastfeed, using six semi-structured focus groups with 48 young people, was performed. Secondly, the measurement instrument was constructed, incorporating all the key theoretical constructs and both direct and belief-based measures. The questionnaire was then piloted on a sample of 121 female and male schoolchildren to identify and assess the relative importance of the determinants of breastfeeding intention.

Results The questionnaire proved to be reliable, and preliminary analysis provided strong support for the predictive power of the TPB.

Conclusions Some key issues involved in the operationalization of the theory are highlighted, which may be of interest to researchers involved in the design of TPB questionnaires for use in other intervention programmes.

Keywords: attitudes, breastfeeding, schoolchildren, theory of planned behaviour


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